Difference between revisions of "Why Women Live Longer Than Men"

Revision as of 23:44, 13 January 2022

Everywhere in the world women live longer than men - but this was not always the case. The available data from rich countries shows that women didn't live longer than men in the 19th century. What is the reason women live longer than men in the present and how is this difference growing in the past? We have only a small amount of evidence and the evidence is not strong enough to make an unambiguous conclusion. We recognize that biological, behavioral and environmental factors play a role in the fact that women are healthier than men; However, we're not sure how much the influence of each one of these factors is.

In spite of the amount of weight, we are aware that at least part of the reason why women live so much longer than men today, but not in the past, is to relate to the fact that several key non-biological factors have changed. What are the factors that are changing? Some are well known and relatively straightforward, like the fact that men smoke more often. Some are more complex. For ابر التخسيس example, there is evidence that in rich countries the female advantage increased in part because infectious diseases used to affect women disproportionately a century ago, so advances in medicine that reduced the long-term health burden from infectious diseases, especially for survivors, ended up raising women's longevity disproportionately.

Everywhere in the world women tend to live longer than men
The first chart below shows life expectancy at birth for men and women. We can see that every country is above the diagonal line of parity. This implies that a baby girl from any country can be expected to live for longer than her brother.

This chart illustrates that, although there is a women's advantage everywhere, cross-country differences can be substantial. In Russia, women live for 10 years longer than men. In Bhutan, the difference is less that half a year.

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The female advantage in life expectancy was less in developed countries that it is today.
Let's examine how the female advantage in longevity has changed over time. The chart below illustrates the male and female life expectancy at the birth in the US in the years 1790-2014. Two aspects stand out.

The first is that there is an upward trend. Both genders in the United States live longer than they did 100 years ago. This is in line with historical increases in life expectancy everywhere in the world.

Second, the gap is increasing: While the female advantage in life expectancy was quite small but it has risen significantly with time.

It is possible to verify that these are applicable to other countries that have data by selecting the "Change country" option on the chart. This includes the UK, France, and ابر التخسيس Sweden.